I Speak the People: We Need a ‘Team Ghana’ Moment

When Finance Minister Seth Tekper declared in his 2013/2014 budget statement that the NDC ruling executive has accepted a 10% voluntary cut to their salaries, it was met with a resounding rebuff from the opposition NPP and some policy institutions. But to the NDC, this act represented a bold display of selflessness at a time when Ghana needs a heavy dose of altruism. There is one common denominator in opposition politics in Ghana, or should I say Africa: every government action, positive or otherwise, is met with a wolf-calling hysteria. This must stop!

Do you wonder why politics in Ghana is reduced to parties' interest instead of the national interest? This question is pregnant with structural and systemic premises, which will have to be deciphered before any attempt at an answer. Problems in Ghanaian politics cannot be reduced into a mere concern of the government of the day. Therefore, how Ghanaian politics is conducted or its level of efficiency, or lack thereof, is a direct result of decades of faulty socio-political traditions. Accordingly, the response to our political problems must be systemic, and must take into account every aspect of the national life of Ghana. And any attempt at that must be duly applauded.

There has to be a time when politicians from across the political divide in Ghana unite on certain strategies issues, and during some crucial moments. I give an Australian example, and Canberra's federal parliamentary records, as well as those of other democracies, are replete with many such. Earlier this month, spy accusations were leveled against Australia by the Indonesian government following an Edward Snowden's unsolicited revelation that Australia tapped the phones of the Indonesian president and his wife. The Abbot government was on the verge of overseeing an indelible damage to Australia's crucial diplomatic relationship with the Indonesians. The point is, the opposition understood this, and Opposition leader Bill Shorten offered full support to the government, positing that that was “a team Australia moment”. Thus both opposition and government worked together to redeem a vital national security partnership.

President John Mahama has made countless statements that Ghana needs an all-hands-on-deck approach. Politicians do not have to be in government to serve the nation. Reading the report on Ghana by the Economist intelligence Unit, the Ghanaian economic outlook becomes disturbing. The report makes a compelling case for Ghanaian politicians to contemplate a team Ghana moment; a moment when party, personal, and cronyist interests bow to the Ghana interest. This is why the Mahama government must be commended for the voluntary pay cut. True, it is negligible and superficial on the face of the nation's problems. And truer still, this act does not reach the very core of our national problems. Even so, it must be commended. Even if the proceeds reduce the national deficit by an insignificant margin, Ghana would still be better than without it. At least the gesture has been made, and history will not miss it. If we go by the government's words, the said amount, to be deducted by the Controller and Accountant General, will be deposited in a special fund which will be dedicated to maternal and neo-natal health. And maternal and neo-natal death is a nation-wrecking affront to Ghana's development. In the words of the President, "any death is a death too many" and this pay cut was to guarantee a drastic reduction in the rate of maternal mortality in the country. We should not get petty, this is laudable.

I was privy to a quote from Nana Awere Damoah's book I Speak Ghana. The quote embarked on a comparism spree with a fascinating and though-provoking precision. Damoah writes:

“When our politicians visit abroad, don't they feel ashamed when they see/experience the facilities which they fail to roll out for the benefit of their citizens back home? Don't they feel ashamed when they drive on wide, first-class, pothole-free roads with properly functioning traffic lights? Aren't they ashamed when they enjoy sheer precision in arrival and departure schedules of tidy trains, trams and buses and other mass transport systems? Don't they feel ashamed when our international airport looks like a bus terminal in another country?”

True, politicians have failed us in various strands. But we should not forget that politicians operate in a system; and we all have a role to play in this system to correct its sorry state. When politicians covet the truth, and most of the time they do, it is because their electorates will accept nothing but a lie. The NPP's rejection of the pay cut is, very likely, due to the erroneous convention that an opposition party cannot be found to commend the government in power. Blaming Ghanaian politicians using the nature of bus and train and airport services elsewhere in the developed world may be timely. But I would rather highlight the banality of the need to right the systemic wrongs of our society – to create a conducive environment for the Ghanaian politician to operate like his British counterpart, or for that matter, the American or Australian. My utility of the Australian example above does not contradict my point about Damoah's quote. No. The former reinforces the latter. What needs to be done for politicians to put Ghana ahead of parties and mere wielding of power borders on socio-cultural, political and civic consciousness – factors that must be entrenched, before any meaningful structural and physical development such as the ones alluded to in the quote can follow.

The national concerns should be what can Ghana do to inject more civic awareness into our society? What changes need to be made to ensure that my member of parliament in Asante Akim South does not have to politrick about providing schools blocks and pipe-borne water when, in both fact and law, the 1992 constitution and the 1993 local government act limit his or her ability to do so, and grants instead, much such authority to the District Chief Executive? What can we do so that the politician does not have to worry about paying bribes and greasing palms and elbows, and instead apply these funds to build “wide, first-class, pothole-free roads with properly functioning traffic lights”. And, indeed, what can we do in Ghana to ensure that nobody stubbornly ties me up to a particular political party by virtue of my views expressed here? What can we do?

A certain Professor Kwaku Asare writes in the chronicle of 26th November 2013 that the pay cut is an unconstitutional political gimmick. I appreciate the constitutional interpretations (and misinterpretations) around the government's action. But there are times when it is unpatriotic at best and arrant nonsense at worst, to engage in unsolicited bouts of legal push and pull. Especially so when people who engage in such unnecessary stunts are not so sure enough to go to court. The NDC could have used the funds so accrued from the cuts for the development of their party for example. But no. In this case, they are for Ghana, and that must be commended. A classic team Ghana moment will be when all parliamentarians and ministers accept a 30% voluntary salary and benefits cut in support of the rural poor, or the small business owner. But, inauspiciously so, the only time we do experience a unity of purpose in our parliament is when the agenda is about increasing parliamentary privileges and benefits. How are we different from Kenyan MPs who have increased their salaries despite being among the best paid in the world hitherto? Do we criticise Kenya's resource-sapping MPs and also criticise the budget-saving decisions of Ghana's ruling executive? I though Ghana needs more selfless leaders!

The salary cut is just an example of a plethora of issues that remind of the cancerous systemic socio-political arrangements in Ghana. The institution of corruption, the profitization of politics, democratic illiteracy, the deification of politicians are but few examples. Accordingly, these issues, and the perpetual naysaying of opposition parties, need to change. Socio-cultural, political and civic consciousness are necessary precursors to all other advancements in a nation's life.

The consciousness I am talking about is what needs primary, and urgent, attention. And this can be snowballed by such acts like this voluntary pay cut. Such consciousness will allow for politicians to be taken to account. It will allow for people to realise the damage that comes with taking bribes. It will allow politicians and their supporters to appreciate team Ghana moments. NPP MPs did not have to tow the government's line. The cuts were voluntary! But the NPP would do Ghana right by not criticising a patriotic act. As can be noticed, the problem can be blamed on the people, the politician – ruling and opposition, – social commentators and opinion leaders: systemic problems require systemic solutions. These are challenging moments for Ghana, no doubt, and every action must be weighed on the national interest scale.

Therefore, despite all the challenges facing the current government, this singular act of random kindness by the President to Ghana, and her industrious women, weighs heavily on Ghana's national interest scale. On this count, I pray you, Mr President, to continue working hard to rescue our country. Look not at your party, but above it, at Ghana and her bewildered poor and hapless youth.

In acting, Mr President, I dare say, firstly, that 10% cut to you and your executive's pay is just a drop in the ocean given the monumental challenge we are facing as Ghanaians. The Malawian president sold the country's presidential jet and used the funds to feed the over 1 million people suffering from food shortage. Mr President can we emulate this by relinquishing the many luxuries politicians do not need but are enjoying at the expense of our tax cedis? Secondly, there are questions suggesting that whilst you are busy cutting 10% of executive salary, you are also, on another stead appointing party folks to non-existent executive positions. This is a concern that must be addressed, Mr President. Thirdly, Mr President, I believe Ghanaians would expect an evaluation of the maternity and neo-natal sector somewhere along the line for all Ghanaians to see that these cuts have, in fact, guaranteed a drastic reduction in the rate of maternal mortality in the country. This will ensure that the funds accrued from this selfless act will not go through a backdoor into secret accounts. This way, the people questioning this commendable act may see the good you meant. Mr President, we need strong leadership, and that comes with constructive criticisms such as these. Strong leaders must serve, and they must be seen to be serving.

Thank you Mr President. Ghana is prevailing, and by your service, she will prevail, eventually.

Mohammed Sulemana is currently co-founding Australian Council on African Affairs; a research think-tank on contemporary trends in Africa's development agenda, and on Australia's foreign policy towards the continent.

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